Carlos Galvão de Melo (4 August 1921 – 20 March 2008) was a Portuguese

military officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent c ...

from the

Portuguese Air Force The Portuguese Air Force () is the air force, aerial warfare force of Portugal. Locally it is referred to by the acronym FAP but internationally is often referred to by the acronym PRTAF. It is the youngest of the three branches of the Portuguese ...

Life

Galvão de Melo was the eldest of nine children of António Augusto Ferreira de Melo, a merchant based in Mozambique, and wife Cecília Rosa Teles de Noronha Galvão. He joined the Portuguese Air Force in 1942 and trained in the United Kingdom and France. Between 1951 and 1954 he was posted at the NATO joint command headquarters, while between 1954 and 1957 he was posted in

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

(then under Portuguese control) to supervise the construction of Dabolim Air Port. Subsequently, he commanded the Fifteenth Squadron 'Reyes', based in Porto (1957–1962), and the Eleventh Bomber Regiment based in Angola (1962–1966). Later he was Military Attache to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

from 1966 to 1970, and served (1970–1973) as Military Attache to

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. In 1973 he became Commander of the Second Home Front Division. When on 25 April 1974 the

Carnation Revolution The Carnation Revolution (), code-named Operation Historic Turn (), also known as the 25 April (), was a military coup by military officers that overthrew the Estado Novo government on 25 April 1974 in Portugal. The coup produced major socia ...

broke out in Portugal, deposing

Marcelo Caetano Marcello José das Neves Alves Caetano (17 August 1906 – 26 October 1980) was a Portuguese politician and scholar. He was the second and last leader of the Estado Novo after succeeding António de Oliveira Salazar. He served as prime mini ...

and overthrowing the ''Estado Novo'' ("New State"), Galvão de Melo joined the

National Salvation Junta The National Salvation Junta (, ) was a group of military officers designated to maintain the government of Portugal in April 1974 after the Carnation Revolution had overthrown the '' Estado Novo'' dictatorial regime. This junta assumed power f ...

that took power. Nevertheless, he soon became known as one of the most conservative members of the Junta. Often seen as a far-right politician, in 1980 he stood as a presidential candidate, but on that occasion he obtained less than 1% of the total popular vote. Fourteen years later, he attracted controversy because of his quoted newspaper remarks which defended the 1975 Indonesian annexation of

East Timor Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...

.Melo: Fall of FRETILIN only a matter of time
''

Jakarta Post ''The Jakarta Post'' is a daily English language, English-language newspaper in Indonesia. The paper is owned by PT Bina Media Tenggara and based in the nation's capital, Jakarta. ''The Jakarta Post'' started as a collaboration between four ...

'', 14 January 1994 Galvão de Melo was married twice, firstly to Maria João Vieira das Neves (on 24 June 1926) and secondly to Sybille Schön (16 December 1925 - 8 January 2007) (divorced Mrs. Stürken), without issue. From his first marriage he had six children.

References

1921 births 2008 deaths People from Figueira da Foz Portuguese military officers CDS – People's Party politicians Candidates for President of Portugal {{Portugal-mil-bio-stub